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Free City Puppets
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"Free City in the garden,"
Aspen Times,
Aug 6, 1970
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"Free City Puppets,"
San Francisco Flyer,
Dec 23 1971
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"Free City Puppets / 1915 Page,"
Kaliflower,
Dec 2 1971
Punch & Judy
Free Forever Daily
On the cover of R.G. Davis' history of the San Francisco Mime Troupe
is a drawing of a chained dragon spewing forth smaller dragons from its
mouth. The cover artist drew this image from Jacques Callot's 17th
century etching "The Temptation of St. Anthony" with an added banner
that reads, "Engagement, Commitment and Fresh Air." It has always seemed
an appropriate vision of the role the S.F. Mime Troupe played in the
1960s with so many individual artists and groups spinning off the energy
that Davis had conjured in order "to teach, [to] direct toward change,
[to] be an example of change." The San Francisco Diggers certainly were
one of those spin-offs. And, just as in the cover drawing the smaller
dragons are themselves giving birth to their own spin-offs, so too did
the Diggers give rise to their own progeny, one of which was the Free
City Puppets.
The Free City Puppets typified one of the Digger slogans, "Do Your
Thing," a phrase that itself came to typify the counterculture of
the Sixties. "Do Your Thing" (or just "Do It") was a motto of empowerment in its
original meaning. It embodied the "anti-mass" culture that the Diggers
were proclaiming. Instead of participating in the mass media circus of
modern America, the Diggers were saying, "Create the condition you
describe." Each individual and collective group was responsible for
"doing their thing" to bring this alternative society into
being—just as the Cover Dragon was depicted.
So this page (with Chuck Gould's inspiration, along with many of his
photos included herein) is devoted to the Free City Puppets and their
vision of Digger Free.
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[Here is an article from 1970 that not only gives a sense of what
the Free City Puppets were about, but also a good rendition of the
Digger/Free City vision.]
Free City in the garden
Aspen Times
August 6, 1970
Free City, an alternate to the historical life styles in this
country, and for Aspen's entertainment, a Punch and Judy puppet show.
Bill and Ann Lindyn came from the Free City community of San
Francisco about a month ago and brought their puppet theater with them.
They have been living here since, giving their show in the Park and will
stay through the end of August.
An outgrowth of the Digger movement in the middle 1960's, Free City
is a group of people trying to evolve relationships to each other that
are free of historical influence.
Part of this life style, and it can certainly be considered that
because it is involved with breaking the framework in which to live, is
centered around the assumption that the service industries as we know
them are actually man's birthright.
A little dense, but what it means is that you shouldn't have to spend
your time on this planet exclusively scratching for your bread and
shelter. Your time should be more open.
So Free City has communes, its own free store and bakery and now a
fishing boat. It also has the Free City Puppets.
The Lindyns have been doing this sort of loosely structured
improvisational theater for five years, first with the San Francisco
Mime Troupe and for the last two years with their own puppets.
Historically Punch has been doing battle with old morality figures
like Want and Weariness, avoiding the Hangman, the Inquisition and every
political blackguard of consequence for the last three hundred years in
addition to the Devil and naturally his wife Judy, often considered
interchangeable.
Italian or perhaps Roman in origin, Punchinello directly evolved out
of the masked characters of the Commedia Dell'arte and came to the
English speaking world as a puppet.
Samuel Pepys, beloved bawdy diarist of Restoration England, made the
first reference to Punch in England in 1662 as a character in an Italian
puppet show.
Punch developed a wife and child to throw around the stage, became
immensely popular and completely English by the 19th century. He also
developed a sharp tongue and his popularity allowed him to use it
against lightly disguised contemporary evils.
Perhaps the first American introduction to Punch was a command
performance given in London for four visiting Iroquois Indian Chiefs.
Whatever, Punch and Judy were familiar to every American who lived in
the last quarter of the 19th century.
"Punch men played in parks and on street corners, at Sunday schools
and club picnics, in dim museums and saloons, in circus shows and
variety theaters" and now in Aspen.
They are assisted in the show by Chuck and Destiny Gould. Destiny is
above in the garden, sporting the American Eagle that occasionally
happens to be a turkey.
The show is designed for adult intelligence but has proved popular
with children. Because they are doing outdoor shows, Punch and Judy are
simple and direct, lacking some of the subtlety they might have in a
more controlled surroundings indoors.
The Lindyns would like to come back next summer and perhaps this
winter, but they and most other creative people in this town are limited
by funds. They live on the coins picked up from a passing hat after each
show.
And the shows are worth seeing; they are funny in the simplest banana
peel manner and as frightening as Spiro Agnew. Using archetypal figures,
the cop, the judge, and the eagle, Free City calls to mind possibilities
that face a little man (Punch) in a big man's America.
But "Tell them first of all, we are Americans" and traditionally
Punch and Judy has been a small man's tool, picking and prodding where
needed.
Regardless, it's entertaining, every Saturday and Sunday, in Wagner
Park at 1 and 7PM and it's free, but incongruously, food isn't in Aspen
so they need the nickels and dimes to "Keep Punch Free."
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[The following is an article from the Rolling Stone supplement. Note
the misspelling of the name Lyndon.]
Free City Puppets
San Francisco Flyer
Dec 23 1971
There's Rank Pig the Landlord, Art the Mark, Butch Cat the Tyrant,
Speedy the Speed Freek, and Fax Exax, with his modern-day-convenience
clockwork face. They are some of the zany puppet combo fashioned by the
Free City Puppets, now in their third year hand-to-mouth survival.
Head puppeteer Bill Lyndon (sic) joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe in
1965, after leaving New York, ten years of bit acting parts and a dozen
waiting tables. While with the Mime Troupe, he started doing Punch and
Judy shows and, with his wife Anne and some initiative from the Diggers
movement, eventually started Free City. Now with four others, John
Condrin, Peter Willock, Greg Konash, and Ann Ryan, they work for what
tinkles into the passing hat. Lyndon said that his puppet-agit theater
is often more subconsciously that pre-meditatively political. "We're
political animals and a puppet might look like a particular thing to
people. They will say, 'Wow! Che Guevara,' when that association hadn't
occurred to me. People read things into shows, and I often wonder if
they're not that far off, when I examine it. It's not always aimed as
political theater, but it comes out that way." As a rule they avoid
long polemics in scripts. Specific political references are made if they
are funny and material to a scene. Most shows are for adults, but the
rule holds especially fast where children are part of the audience. "You
can't slip things in on children if they don't want them." Oddly, some
parents object that their shows are too violent. Strange, since Punch
and Judy, who are regular troupe members, have been pounding one another
hysterically for 400 years. Most scripts are variations on traditional
themes, with new names and characters relevant to the present
culture—Ned and Nelly Neanderthal propping up for middle America. This
practice is also part of the tradition. Since a San Francisco
Foundation grant ran out two months ago, they have been struggling to
keep their Page Street studio in the Haight. Free City Puppets has
existed on nothing with appreciably no workshop space before and will do
it again, said Lyndon with a barely noticeable sigh. They have also
been conducting free workshops for children, teenagers and adults in
puppet making, puppeteering and theater improv, under sponsorship of the
Neighborhood Arts Program of the San Francisco Art Commission. The
future of these classes in uncertain, however. NAP Program Director
Stephen Goldstine said that despite the Program's short funding this
year, they will make every effort to continue Free City's classes.
Free City Puppets is available for performances. Lyndon said they
will do them for free but can use the money if some bread is involved.
The group will appear at the First Annual San Francisco International
Book Fair at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park (off Ninth Ave. &
Lincoln), the afternoon of December 16th. Admission is free. Those
wishing to contact Free City may phone 386-9738. |
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[The following was an article that Ann Lindyn wrote in 1971 for Kaliflower,
the inter-communal paper]
Free City Puppets / 1915 Page
Kaliflower, Dec 2 1971
Maybe during the past 3 years you may have seen us perform in golden
gate park at mothers meadow (where's that?) We are the punch and judy
show with rank pig the landlord and the tac squad cop. We call our shows
"knock the narc," "off the pig" (our melodrama). Anywhere we can set up
is where we play. This year we have been fortunate enough to be able to
set up a workshop. We have kids classes and adults classes. This
operation has been going on for three months and we have learned a few
things about workshops, namely that the kids workshops are a ball. Kids
think up their puppets and make them fast. They have fertile little
imaginations and do great shows without long rehearsals and prodding.
The adults on the other hand are quite another story. A lot of the
people who came are people who take classes here, there, everywhere.
They very slowly put their puppets together taking as long as 3 months
to complete. It was very tedious for us. We had hoped on opening the
workshop to get people who would dig to help out with our puppets like
making repairs on one level and bring fresh energy on another level. The
workshop is free and so are the supplies and we feel that all things in
order to breathe are based on a give and take principle. We have a small
amount of knowledge on making puppets which we will be happy to share
with alive breathing human beings who relate to our company with feeling
akin to those of the children who come here. We are beginning our
workshops again, having paused to give birth to Michael.
HOW TO MAKE A PUPPET! 1 old sock
2 handfulls fabric stuffing
1/2 toilet paper roll
Masking tape, Elmer's glue
1 rubber band
1 old glove
1 piece fabric (12" x 12" square)
(some felt, beads, trim, string, rope, yarn, and an old wig.) Cut
sock, stuff toe with top end and stuffing to form head. Shape and stitch
in place nose, ears, and other features (optional, children may not be
able to handle a needle and thread). Cut toilet paper roll and re-roll
to fit finger. Tape in place. Insert roll in head and rubber band and
glue in place. Not cut out features (eyes, nose, lips, mouth) in felt,
leather or any non-raveling material — beads may be used for eyes,
teeth, etc. apply these with Elmer's glue. For hair, mustaches: glue on
rope or yarn or anything you think will work (brillo!). When the head is
finished cut fabric square thus (big enough for neck, about 1/2"). Glue
head in center and cut 2 finger tips off an old glove and glue to either
side of slits, or so your finger can slip into the finger tips. Dress
and decorate apropos to character. |
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